Paving of tennis courts and the like



May 26, 1936. A. K. BAMBER 2,042,377

PAVING oF TENNIS COURTS AND THE LIKE Filed March 29, 1935 MPP' MA1-snm;

TI? ED STONE LINKE/ Patented May v26, 1936 UNITED STATES PAVING oFTENNIS coURTsAND THE LIKE

Arthur Kelway Bamber, Brighton, England Application March 29,

6 Claims.

My invention relates to paving for tennis courts, badminton courts,bowling greens, sports grounds, garden paths, and the like.

A purpose of my invention is to produce, with a minimum amount of labor,hard tennis courts, badminton courts, bowling greens, sports grounds,garden paths, etc., which are resilient under foot, impart a true bounceand a normal bounce to a tennis or other ball, Whether in fast or slowplay,

10 and stand up permanently under exposure to the elements Withoutsoftening in the sun, being injured by the rain, or being destroyed byfrosts.

A further purpose is to make a tennis court, or similar construction,upon which one can plat7 without harm to the court immediately after arain.

A further purpose is to manufacture an openair sports court, or ground,which shall be permarient and shall not require any upkeep, such asrolling, Watering, raking, etc.

A further purpose is to top a tennis court, or similar sports court,With a resilient, po'rous material, comprising an aggregate, such assand, bonded by a mixture of linseedjoil, rosin, rubber and shellac,with the preferable addition of a suitable paste drier.

A further purpose is to employ tarred stone as a base for a tennis courtor similar court, suitably topping the court by a layer of aggregatebonded by rubber and linseed oil.

My invention relates both to the method involved and to the structureemployed.

.I ,have preferred to illustrate merely a single embodiment of myinvention, which embodiment is conventional and is chosen largelybecause of its convenience in illustrating the principles involved. l

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a conventional tennis court embodying myinvention.

Figure 2 is yan enlarged fragmentary section of Figure 1 along the line2 2.

In the drawing similar numerals parts. v

As my invention applies to a tennis court, in its preferable embodiment,I will consider the needs of the tennis court in detail as a specificexample of the` use of my invention.

Awide variety of tennis courts are at present used, clay courts andgrass courts being perhaps the most common.

Clay and grass courts are objectionable because of the very highmaintenance costs and the fact that such courts cannot be used for sometime after Wet Weather, unless special precautions 55 are taken toprotect them from moisture. vAcindicate like 1935, Serial No. 13,623

cordingly, a number of efforts have been made to produce courts of amore permanent nature. The manufacture of such permanent courts is^adiicult problem because the clay and grass courts have establisheddefinite standards of bounce, 5 and no permanent court can be a successunless it gives a bounce approximating that to which tennis players areaccustomed. Asphalt and concrete'courts do not give nearly the samebounce as clay and grass courts, both of these hard courts are slow indrying, concrete courts are very hard under foot and likely to crack infrosts, and asphalt courts become soft and sticky in hot Weather. y

Of foremost importance, my improved tennis court gives a true bounce anda normal bounce, Whether in fast or Slow play. Unlike concrete courts,my tennis court is resilient under foot. I preferably color the top ofmy court green, which color is pleasing to the player.

My improved court is capable of remaining permanently in theopen-ainwithout any upkeep, Whether it be rolling, Watering, raking, orlining. The tennis court of my invention does not soften or becomesticky in hot Weather. It is not injured by rains, and, due to theporous character of the top of the court, may be played on Within aShort time after the end of a rain, thus avoiding the interminabledelays and cancellations of matches, which have been common in the caseparticularly of clay courts. I also avoid the necessity for spreadingtarpaulins over a court during rain, and the necessity for sloping acourt so sharply for drainage purposes as to produce a false or unevenbounce. My court construction Will stand severe frosts Without cracking,humping or buckling. The white lines for marking the court arepreferably inlaid, so that re-marking is not required. i

In producing a tennis court in accordance with my invention, I firstlevel the site of the court and consolidate the ground thoroughly byrolling. In case an existing tennis court is to be surfaced, thisprocedure is not necessary, as it will have been already completed. Inext cut six or eight diagonal V-shaped channels l0 across the site, andll these channels with ne ashes, which are -rolled until level with therest of the site. In case the ground is porous, the cutting of channelsmay be dispensed with.

To facilitate the construction of the remainder of the court, I find itdesirable to build a concrete border I I entirely around the court, toretain the edges of the court material. The border should preferably beabout -six inches Wide and high enough so that it will be about levelwith the iinished court. I nd that the border may desirably be made froma mixture of one part of Portland cement to four parts of clean, sharpsand, and a suitable quantity of water. The border may be poured betweensuitable forms, not shown.

After the forms for the border are removed, I cover the earth I2 with abed of good vitriiied clinker or slag I3, of a depth of approximatelytwo inches. 'I'he bed of clinker or slag is well consolidated byrolling.

On top of the base of clinker or slag, I spread a layer of tarred stoneI 4 about two inches thick. The tarred stone initially spread ispreferably of about one inch to one and one-half inch grade and isthoroughly rolled. Any suitable tar as gas tar, or any other preparationemployed in After the bed of tarred stone has been thoroughly rolled, Isweep over it some fine tarred stone of aboutA one-quarter inch grade,sweeping oi any excess material which may not fall into the intersticesof the pieces of coarser tarred stone. After the ilne grade tarred stoneis spread over the coarser grade material I again roll it thoroughly.

'I'he white marking lines I 5, which are to be inlaid in the court, arenext laid upon the tarred stone. These white lines should preferably beabout three-eighths inch thick. The white lines are formed from amixture of between one half part and two parts of binder to betweenthree parts and six parts of very fine silver sand. I prefer to use onepart of binder to fo'ur parts of silver sand. 'I'he binder for the whitelines should comprise between three quarter quart and two quarts ofboiled linseed oil, between one half quart and one and a half quarts ofpowdered rosin, between one quarter quart and one and a half quarts ofrubber solution (suitably two ounces'of pure crepe unvulcanized rubberdissolved in one gallon of suitable solvent, such as gasoline), betweenthree pounds and six pounds of white lead paste, between one quarterounce and two ounces of shellac and between one half tablespoonful andone and a 'half tablespoonfuls of paste drier (litharge) 'I'he binderfor the white lines should preferably comprise one and one-half quartsof boiled linseed oil, three-quarters of a quart of powdered pale rosin,one-half quart of rubber solution, four to-six pounds of white leadpaste, one-half ounce of shellac and one tablespoonful of paste drier.The ingredients which form the binder are melted down into a thick pastewhich is heated to boiling, and the hot binder is mixed with the hotsilver sand. The mixture of silver sand and binder for the white linesis next spread on the tarred stone at the proper points in strips abouttwo inches wide and three-eighths inch deep, thoroughly consolidated bya steel float or roll. I then preferably stretch a string the length ofone side of the white line, draw the string upwardly a short distanceand release it to make a longitudinal mark of the one boundary of thewhite line, repeat the operation for the other boundary, and cut off theexcess material with a trowel to the marks. 'Ihe trimmings from thesides of the white lines may be used with fresh composition in makingother white lines. The white lines, after being suitably spread, asabove noted, should be given two coats of boiled linseed oil for primingpurposes, and then allowed to harden. The hardening time is usuallyabout twenty hours.

After the white lines have been suitably provided, the top layer I6 ofthe court is applied.

This consistsk of aggregate such as clean sharp sand or slag and abinder. The binder comprises between one-half quart and two quarts ofboiled linseed oil, between one-halfquart and two quarts of powderedrosin, between one-quarter quart and one and a half quarts of rubbersolution, between one-half quart and one and one-half quarts 'ofcoloring matter, between one quarter ounce and two ounces of shellac andbetween one-half tablespoonful and one and one-half tablespoonfuls ofpaste drier (litharge). The preferable composition of the binder is oneand one-half quarts of boiled linseed oil, three-quarters of a quart ofpowdered rosin, one-half quart of rubber solution, one quart of coloringmatter, one-quarter ounce of shellac and one tablespoonful of pastedrier.

vThe rubber solution preferably comprises about two lounces ofpure creperubber in a gallon of suitable solvent, such as gasoline. The viscosityof the rubber solution is about the same as linseed oil. 'Ihe rubberused in the rubber solution should not be vulcanized, althoughvulcanized rubber may be used as part of the aggregate. The coloringmatter is preferably Brunswick green, a copper carbonate color.

The ingredients of the binder` are boiled until the rosin is completelydissolved. and then are desirably mixed with about 30 quarts of hotaggregate. Of course the quantities of ingredients in the binder, theingredients of the binder and the quantity of binder may be varied.

The mixture of aggregate and binder is spread over the tarred stone to athickness of about onehalf inch (it extends slightly above the whitelines). 'I'he topping material may desirably be straight-edged off witha wooden lute and rolled to a true, even surface. Fine aggregate mixedwith binder is then desirably sifted over the top to give a uniformsurface and color, and the court is again rolled. 'l'he court shouldthen be allowed to set for about iive days.

The final operation is to give the white lines one or more coats ofwhite paint. The court is now ready for play.

The binder for the white lines or that for the top of the court, afterthe ingredients are mixed and heated, has the consistency of a thickwhite paint. This may be kept in sealed cans indeiinitely, and, whenready for use, can simply be stirred up and added, cold, to hotaggregate.

I find that, even after the aggregate and binder have been mixed andhave cooled, they may be used without reheating by breaking up,screening through a sieve (one-quarter inch mesh), and laying. Heatingis desirable in this case also, but not necessary, as the aggregate isalready coated with binder. Fresh binder will desirably be added beforethe material is laid. Water will assist in breaking up the hard materialprior to screening, and will assist in preventing the material fromsticking to the roller during laying.

It is thus possible to make up the binder at a distance from the tenniscourt, ship it to the site of the tennis court in air-tight cans andthere combine it .with the aggregate. 0n the other hand, yI may mix thebinder and aggregate at a distance from the tennis court, ship themixture of -binder and aggregate to the site of the tennis court, andthere separate the particles of the mixture, lay the mixture andconsolidate it to permit the binder to become eii'ective.

The completed court is resilient, giving a normal and a true bounce andbeing restful tothe players. The material of the top is not affected byhot or cold weather, and is sufliciently porous to allow water to runthrough it into the ground, so that the court can dry quickly after arain. No upkeep is required during extended periods of normal use.

It will be evident that excessive amounts of very fine material shouldbe avoided in the aggregate, as it renders the nished tennis court orthe like less porous.

The use of shellac assists in obtaining a much stronger top layer andmakes it possible to get a highly satisfactory bond when the binder isadd.- ed cold, and even when the top is cold at the time it is laid.

Where heating is necessary, a hot plate may be desirably used.

The tarred stone may be replaced, if cheapness is important, by a layerof stone which is subsequently sprayed with tar.

Paste drier is much preferable to liquid drier because the paste drierdoes not cause discoloration in the finished product.

The material forming the top of the court may be reused by simplybreaking it up, screening it. laying it again and consolidating it. Alittle fresh binder may be added if desired.

In view of my invention and disclosure variations and modifications tomeet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident toothers skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of myinvention without copying the structure shown, and I, therefore, claimall such in so far as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scopeof my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:-

1. A top surface material for a tennis court or the like, comprisingparticles of aggregate and a binder composed of linseed oil, rosin,rubber and shellac.

2. A top surface material for a tennis court or the like, comprisingparticles of aggregate and a binder composed of linseed oil, rosin,rubber, shellac and a paste drier.

3. A top surface material for a tennis court or the like, comprisingparticles of aggregate and a binder composed of linseed oil, rosin,rubber, coloring matter, shellac and a paste drier.

4. A tennis court or the like comprising a foundation layer of tarredaggregate properly consolidated and a properly consolidated top layer ofaggregate mixed with a binder containing linseed oil, rosin, rubber andshellac.

5. A top surface material for a tennis court or the like, comprisingparticles of aggregate and a binder containing between one-half quartand two quarts of boiled linseed oil, between one-half quart and twoquarts of powdered rosin, between one-quarter quart and one and a halfquarts of rubber solution and between one-quarter ounce and two ouncesof shellac.

6. A top surface material for tennis court or the like, comprisingparticles of aggregate and a binder containing about one and one-halfquarts of linseed oil to about three-quarters of a quart of rosin, aboutone-half of a quart of rubber solution and one quarter ounce of shellac.

ARTHUR KELWAY BAMBER.

